Have a Ball with Yarn as Prompt

Squeeze a ball of yarn. It’s soft and fluffy to the touch. What metaphors or images arise from the sight or touch of the yarn?

Have yarn, will create! Using this spun thread to create connections is nothing new. The word itself has a secondary meaning, which is to spin a tall-tale, fable, or myth. There are some good reasons for this connection. First, yarns squeeze metaphors to create literary impact. Second, creatives can literally juggle balls of yarn to consider how a plot can be twisted and turned to add drama. Finally, finger-crocheting can help knit together a dialogue or setting. Let’s look at yarn’s versatility as a writer’s tool below.

Squeeze Out Metaphor

Rubber stress balls work to help anxiety-filled writers and artists, but those made from yarn are better. Soft, fluffy, and light, they help us to squeeze metaphors while literally clamping down on them. Think about it. Maybe the logger who created the Paul Bunyan folklore had access to yarn balls while spinning tales of Paul and his blue ox named, Babe? Not familiar with the American tale? The city of Bemoiji, Minnesota’s website has detailed storylines for Paul and Babe’s travels. See more here: https://wewriteitright.com/sow-flow-visit-antique-shop/

Juggle ideas around while rotating these light-as-air balls to loosen up a plot.

Juggle Ideas Around with Yarn Balls

Perhaps juggling can loosen up a stuck plot. Without too much scientific thinking here, simply juggle three balls of yarn. Stand or sit. It doesn’t make a difference. Focus on the act of juggling the balls for five to 10 minutes, then write a journal entry about the current piece. See what types of connections altered or sprung up from the simple act of juggling. Need a refresher on how to juggle? Look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNigMfLNhpg

Finger Crochet to Knit a Tale

Want to bring a scene or a dialogue alive? Try finger crocheting some yarn at the desk. This works better seated than standing. Again, do not think too much about the creative piece. Think summer camp or study hall in middle school. Simply focus energy on doing the loops in finger crocheting for about 10 minutes. The process is what matters here, so don’t sweat the way the long link looks. Then, again, write a journal entry to note any new sensory images to add to a scene or dialogue.

Finger crochet for dialogue or scene development.

Your Turn

Creating space to allow images to pop up is important for writers and artists to yarn their tales. Frist, try to squeeze metaphors to enhance the story. Next, mix things up in a plot after juggling. Finally, use finger crocheting to knit together a scene or a dialogue. Choose any of these or all three to keep your story skills fluid.

Enter Treasure House to Sow Flow

Sometimes the best way to prepare to plant is to be open to receiving inspriation from the Divine Gardener.

Want to sow more flow in the new year? There is a surefire way. Visit an antique dealer, thrift store, or junk shop. While this post discusses a recent trip to one treasure house, inspiration abounds at any such venue for a number of reasons. First, entering such an adventure opens our creative souls to the Source, who I like to call the Divine Gardener. Second, when we are open to our creativity, we collect more seeds or ideas to plant. Third, we prepare our projects lovingly when we sow with safety in mind. Recently, I took a trip through an antique mall, which is appropriately called, Treasure House. Visiting Central Florida in the near future? Check out the Facebook page to learn more about Diego and Susan Barriero’s rambling antique hive at: https://www.facebook.com/treasurehouseone/

Receive Inspiration from Divine Gardener

Having the desire to go on a hunt for story leads is one way to contact the Divine Gardener. All any of us creatives need to do is to be open to receiving the inspiration handed to us. I find that I have the best connection with this experience when I go into a shop with absolutely no expectations. I trust that the Divine Gardener will provide the seeds – the experiences linked by intuition – for any future project. And, then, just without the strain of needing to find things to write that’ll sell – the perfect objects appear. Often, they’re reminders to be patient enough to wait. Then, to receive that which is in need of the right soil to grow.

Start with Many Seeds to Add Variety

Make sure you have a variety of seeds for a variety of work.

When we are open to ideas, they pour forth through the odd associations in the objects’ placements. Look for the metaphor and it will lead you to the free-wheeling beginnings for poems, plays, flash-fiction pieces, and more. Notice that as I moved throughout the Treasure House that the objects simply appeared to me in the order I needed. They were in three separate areas that were interconnected. I delight in the Divine Gardener’s ease.

And, the One pouring out these leads, ideas, and connections has more than any of us could use. We just need to continue to trust the flow as it grows. One image – one inspired seed – at a time.

Cold Frame Safety for New Projects

What could you grow if you gave it a beautiful shelter?

What if we gave our new projects the same care that the Divine Gardener does? First, use extremes-in-temperature protection . Have a planned daily writing schedule. Avoided on-going heated writing streaks. Or, the opposite dry seasons we will upon a seed. It happens when we lack trust in our own words. Next, avoid sentimentality. Too much emotion will kill a project. In other words, let the Divine Gardener tend to the impact the words carry. Simply get the message down. Finally, give the project streaming light. Perhaps, as I learned in the Advent Dark Journal journey I recently took with Suzi Bank Baum, a blessing or prayer before working on the project is in order? As Suzi suggested recently, maybe saying Thank you, seeds! is all that’s needed. Curious about Suzi’s multi-discipline approach? See more at https://www.suzibanksbaum.com/

Your Turn to Grow Your Flow

Take out your calendar. Mark off an adventure to an antique dealer, thrift store, or junk shop. Look for associations with the items that catch your eye. Click a few photos. Say a little prayer. Then, get to work writing the words that the Divine Gardener planted within you during the experience. Next, help them sprout by tending to them daily. Finally, tenderly shelter those words as they continue their journey.

Just Say No to Go with Flow

Sometimes you just need to say “No!” to get flow growing. Most of us think that muscling our way into the next project or chapter or grant proposal writing section is the way to go. But when we stop resisting the negativity of a situation, then we can find our point of re-entry quicker. It seriously beats digging heels in and fighting the set back with more hard work.

Sometimes you just need to say no to go to flow!

Refrain from Resisting the No to Flow

Refraining from fighting the desire to let go of a project – if only temporarily – to find flow is wise for a few reasons. First,, the struggle to create when the fuel tanks are empty just causes a grind. Second, most projects can be put off a day or two, or even an hour, for a walk outside or around the block. Breathing fresh air is important to the thought process. Third, recognizing that there’s a need to take some free time to doodle or color a page in an adult coloring book can help get creativity back on track. What our brains need at this point is permission to rest. Looking for a fun way mandala book with attitude? Try Ugh, I Can’t Even by Papeterie Bleu. Get ordering information at http://www.papeteriebleu.com/

Point of Re-Entry Opens with Rest

How does anybody rest when under deadline? The same way expectant mothers rest between contractions. They breathe. They distract themselves with a hand massage. My favorite way to rest when performance is needing to be sustained is to take five minutes and do the Relax app on my Fitbit. When really pressed for time, I do the two minute version. Then, when I begin to write again, I feel more grounded to complete a project. Sometimes it really is worthwhile to go to no for flow.

Flow Arrives the Morning After Twelfth Night

A red berry wreath remind bears glad tidings beyond Twelfth Night.

Entering into life beyond The Twelfth Day of Christmas challenges even the most cheerful among us. People don’t get too excited about the thirteenth day of Christmas now, do they? Yet flow arrives on the heels of such a day. Honestly, it is important to know where to look. My family packed up Christmas after attending an Epiphany service. And, I’m not going to lie, it felt a little sad. Then, I realized what was needed to keep the spirit of the holidays going into at least next month. What was it? A simple red berry wreath.

Flow Found in Red Berry

A wreath is a traditional sign to welcome those entering a home. This red berry wreath is hung on a pantry door in my kitchen for a few reasons. First, it recalls winter’s joyful landscapes. Where I live it is in the 70s during the day and down in the 40s at night. So, the symbolism of a white door behind the red berries reminds me of the Snow Belt where I grew up. Next, it winds around on itself as a sign of infinity. Glad tidings, I am reminded, are reason for an additional smile. And, another. Finally, stir those images around to find a satisfying sense of flow to extend the joy of Twelfth Night into today – and beyond.

Other Places to Find Flow Beyond Twelfth Night

Easily find flow and where it grows through the five senses. First, get out a journal. Next, walk around the office or house and jot down anything that smells, sounds, tastes, feels, or looks like an extension of the holiday. For example, note that the red earthen wear bowl can hold fruit such as apples on the counter. Perhaps a dash a cinnamon in coffee or on cocoa brings a jolt of joy. Finally, take this listing of sense-related phrases and quickly write a reflection on Christmas joys. No need to share it – unless that, too, brings joy.

Flip Complain to Access Flow

Today’s word-of-the-day selection is complain (v): 1. to express grief, pain, uneasiness, censure, resentment, or dissatisfaction. He complained constantly about the noise in the corridor. 2. to tell of one’s pains, ailments, ect. to complain about a pain in one’s back. 3. to make a formal accusation. The ambassador complained about the student demonstrations. People complain in a lot of ways, but for the same reason. They repeat voiced negativity for emphasis. The scale of the message gets amplified when a concern is not being heard. That is why it is so important to flip an expression of pain or resentment before it gets turned into rage.

Daily journaling helps you to get out of your own way to allow more creative flow into your writing.

Consider the lyrics of the Beatles’ song, Hey Jude, which advises Jude to take a sad song and make it better. The entire song gives a blueprint on how to heal. The song was composed by Paul McCartney to comfort Julian Lennon as his parents divorced. The expressed grief is cured through taking self-care steps to feel the pain of a family breakup. Flipping grief helps writers, too, to make it better. Especially after one too many rejections pop up in Submitable or in SNAIL mail.

Show Me What It Looks Like

Consciousness cures chronic complaining. My father, who passed away 22 years today, taught his children to switch up negative situations. He was a big believer in Wayne Dyer, Zig Ziglar, and Denis Waitley, who exuded positive mindset long before it became trendy. If any of us kids misplaced a shoe or a library book – or anything, really – Dad would inevitably say: Show me what it looks like and I’ll tell you where it is. Of course, this phrase sent the recipient back to the self-reliant task of finding the lost object. He probably had never heard of the metaphysical healer, Louise Hay, yet one of her mantras fit his situation re-framing thinking well: Out of this situation only good will come.

The Message of Complain

The message of this word is a cry for help: Will someone listen to me? I need attention. I need help with follow-through. I need to be recognized. There is a great meme that pops up frequently on my social media sites. It says Be the person you needed when you were a child. Each one of us has the intestinal fortitude to indeed take a sad song and make it better. The key is taking time to listen to our own thoughts. How? We can write stream-of-conscious journal entries, take a walk, or simply quietly sit with eyes shut. Then, listen to what comes up.

Your Turn

Take out your journal. Write about anything that annoys, enrages, or exhausts you. Then, flip the situation. Create ownership for creating the change needed. Finally, take a single action to move forward in a different direction.

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